Rock stars Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Ian Brown's efforts means East Lancashire Hospice is set to share in a £250,000 bonanza.

The Park Lee Road hospice is one of a number of beneficiaries from an all-star gathering arranged by former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke.

Other stars involved in the March 2007 Versus Cancer concert included The Charlatans and Peter Hook, Former Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School pupil Nova Rehman helped to pull together the star-packed event, which included partial reunions of both the Stone Roses and The Smiths.

Nova's sister and father were both diagnosed with cancer within a short space of time, inspiring the Blackburn music impresario to master-mind the concert for the Great Northern Aid Trust.

The former owner of Nelson-based Phantom Power production company, Nova now manages Rourke and has a host of music contacts.

East Lancs Hospice will use its share from the concert's proceeds to buy a new hoist to move patients.

Available in Highly Collectible Two-Film DVD Set On November 6, 2007 From Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

The narrative of "Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who" and sister-film "Amazing Journey: Six Quick Ones" are both driven by compelling new interviews with surviving members Daltrey and Townshend, and those close to the band

In which thoughts and memories of The Who, their music, and their history are shared with the viewer. These eyewitnesses include The Who's manager Bill Curbishley (the film's Executive Producer),and Chris Stamp (with Kit Lambert, one of The Who's original co managers).

Additional insight is provided by close friends, family and colleagues; andcommenting on their musical legacy are Sting, U2's The Edge, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Oasis' Noel Gallagher.

If there's anything New York loves more than a buzz band, it's forgetting about a buzz band. It's hard to stay new for long in this town, and when a band is finally confronted with the reality that the fervor that greeted its naissance has dwindled, it can be awfully painful to watch. After seeing the Brighton-based Kooks play a decent-but-not-great set at Bowery Ballroom last fall, I wondered if their window had already begun to close. Hadn't the Fratellis stolen the Kooks' career right out from under them?

They're planning to start recording in August with producer Tony Hoffer. Given the brand of music the Kooks play, though, and given where they're from -- let's be honest, producing strong second albums hasn't exactly been a trademark of U.K. bands in recent years -- the possibility of a sophomore slump looms. "I think [it happens] just because things change," Pritchard says of poor follow-ups. "Like Noel Gallagher: He wrote all the songs before he became big. I mean, he still writes great tunes, but it's obviously going from being in Manchester to being a millionaire. I think it's all to do with the writing. You can't really write about having a shit time when you're living in a mansion.

Xfm is planning to celebrate 10 years of broadcasting in the capital by producing a series of documentaries highlighting 10 of the most influential and significant albums released from each of the last 10 years. The hour long shows will air each Sunday at 5pm starting this week.

Matt said, “In its 10 year history Xfm has championed and supported some of the world finest bands, and its great to go back and revisit not only ten of the albums that have shaped popular music, but also the incredible musicians who created them.

“What have I learnt? Mike Skinner and Alex Kapranos are smarter than you could imagine, while Ricky Wilson and Norman Cook are funnier, Muse’s Matt Bellamy is utterly unhinged (in a very polite way) yet Fran Healy is very polite (in an utterly unhinged way) and Dave Grohl may be the nicest man in rock music, but Josh Homme is definitely the coolest.”

Speaking about the project, title artist Norman Cook said, “It’s marvellous to be included in Xfm’s list of the most influential albums of the past decade, and I must confess, I quite enjoyed being probed at such great length about ‘You’ve Come Along Way Baby’, especially by someone with such well defined probing facilities as Matt.”

The Kaiser Chiefs Ricky Wilson said "Xfm has always been important to us as a band, even before we were this band. Xfm were brave enough to play us, even when we weren't very good. I didn't even hear it for the first seven years until I got a digital radio three years ago, it was just something that Nick always said was important. It's nice now that I'm fully digital, 'cos I can start to support Xfm just as they have been supporting us for a very long time. It's also nice to be seen as being influential, even though Xfm have probably been more influential than us."

Xfm’s Head Of Music Mike Walsh added, ‘Xfm is proud to have been so integral to the careers of so many historic artists over the past 10 years. This series of docs charts the making of many of these historic records by featuring one of our favorite albums of each of our 10 years.

“Xfm has also always prided itself on innovative, in depth and passionate programming. These docs have been brilliantly made, single handedly, by our very own Matt Everitt and are a great to testament to how Xfm continues to compete with the BBC in the area of music specials. We are very grateful to all the artists, managers and label personnel that gave us their time and I'm sure they will all be more than happy with the fantastic job that Matt has done.’

Definitely Maybe is the debut album by English band Oasis, released on August 30th 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker" and particularly the popular "Live Forever".

Definitely Maybe went straight to number one and 7x platinum in the UK Album charts on initial release. It was the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK when released. Definitely Maybe marked the beginning of Oasis' success in America, selling over 1 million copies there, although only reaching #58 on the Billboard 200. The album went on to sell over 7.5 million copies worldwide.

In 1997 Definitely Maybe was named the 14th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 2005 Channel 4's '100 Greatest Albums' countdown placed the album at number 6. In 2006 NME placed the album third in a list of the greatest British albums ever, behind The Stone Roses and The Queen Is Dead. In a recent British poll, run by NME and the book of British Hit Singles and Albums, Definitely Maybe was voted the best album of all time with The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band finishing second and Revolver third. Q magazine readers placed it at five on their greatest albums of all time list in 2006 and in that same year NME hailed it as the greatest album of all time. It is frequently referred to as the greatest debut album of all time.

Album History

In 1994, Oasis were seen as a distant echo of the moribund 'Madchester' scene which had exploded in the early 1990s. Unlike other Madchester bands who indulged in experiments with funk, dance or hip-hop, Oasis presented themselves as a relatively straightforward rock and roll band. Along with bands like Blur and The Verve they seemed to encapsulate a new wave, one which did not yet have a name. By the end of the year the media coined the term Britpop, of which Definitely Maybe retrospectively became one of the pivotal albums.

Many of the songs had originally appeared on Oasis' "Live Demonstration" demo recorded in Liverpool the year before with Chris and Tony Griffiths of The Real People. The main recording sessions took longer than expected, with the bulk of the album having to be recorded three different times with Mark Coyle producing, before Owen Morris came up with a mix that everyone was satisfied with. The album cost nearly £85,000 to produce, a huge amount of money for a debut album at the time.

The album title, according to Noel Gallagher, comes from a poster he saw in a pub, although he cannot remember what the poster was advertising.

Manchester’s In The City event is to go ahead this October despite the recent death of its founder Tony Wilson.

The musical festival will now operate under the name of ‘It’s A Brand New Dance, But We Don’t Know Its Name’ – which are the opening lines to David Bowie’s, ‘Fashion’ – as a tribute to Wilson.

Wilson, who died of a heart attack on August 10th, co-founded ‘In The City’ alongside his wife, Yvette in 1992 and the event went on to help launch the careers of bands, such as, Oasis, Radiohead and Muse.

According to a statement, the future of the event has never been in doubt, with Wilson and his wife discussing its future prior to his death.

"Before his death – in conversations with his partner and ITC co-founder Yvette – the decision was made between them to carry on no matter what happened,” explained a spokesperson.

“So instead it’ll be the informed, irreverent, intellectual and most of all inspiring event that it always has been – perhaps even more so this time round. It’s the most fitting tribute we’re sure you’ll agree."

The format of the event will remain the same, with industry officials holding conferences during the day and live music performances taking place during the evening.

The deadline for band’s to send demos into event organisers is August 31st.

The Killers have recruited Lou Reed to sing on a track set to appear on the Las Vegas band's forthcoming B-sides and rarities album.

Frontman Brandon Flowers exclusively told NME.COM that they've been hard at work in a New York studio this week recording 'Tranquilize' with 'Sam's Town' producers Flood and Alan Moulder.

Flowers explained that although the song will be part of a B-sides compilation, he believes it's one of the band's strongest tracks. "It's a song that really should've been on 'Sam's Town'," he said.

The compilation is due out before the end of the year, and will feature material that may be new to many US listeners. "A lot of our American fans may not even know about these songs because they're B-sides to singles in England," he said.

Flowers explained that the idea for the compilation was inspired by two of his favourite bands that did something similar.

"I'm a big fan of 'The Masterplan' by Oasis and 'Hatful Of Hollow' by The Smiths. It's for our fans who want the whole collection in one package."

Kings Of Leon will return to Australia & New Zealand for their first major headline tour kicking off in the New Year at the annual Falls Festivals in Lorne and Marion Bay, before taking the stage for their own shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Busselton and Melbourne. Tix for this landmark tour go on sale Friday, September 14.

King Of Leon will ring in the New Year at the annual Falls Festivals in Lorne and Marion Bay before taking the stage in their own shows at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Wednesday 2nd January and Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Thursday 3rd.

New Zealand fans won't be left disappointed either, with shows scheduled for Wellington's TSB Arena on Fri 11th January and the Vector Arena in Auckland on Sat 12th January.

The Kings Of Leon's highly anticipated major headline tour comes on the back of the huge success of their latest studio album, 'Because of the Times', which include the massive first singles 'On Call', and 'Fans'.

Fans of the Kings include the likes of music icon Bob Dylan, Bono, with both of whom the Kings have toured with in the USA, along with Eddie Vedder, Noel Gallagher & Brandon Flowers.

We'll leave the last word with Noel Gallagher - "No one will beat that here, nobody. Who's going to beat that? They've got the tunes, Caleb's got one of the best voices ever & they are a family. You can't f*cking buy that shit man."

Musicians from the north west raised £250,000 for cancer research and treatment projects across the region at this year's Versus Cancer gig.

The star-studded line-up headlined by Noel Gallagher also included Paul Weller, Ian Brown, The Charlatans and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Specialist cancer hospital Christie will receive £100,000, which doctors plan to use to research a revolutionary new treatment which works by boosting the immune system.

Cash also goes to the Genesis Cancer Prevention Centre, recently opened at Wythenshawe Hospital.

Funds raised have provided an ambulance for Dr Kershaw's Hospice in Oldham to help transport cancer patients to and from their homes.

And money is also going to testicular cancer awareness campaign, Check 'Em Lads, and East Lancashire Hospice.

It is the second year the charity gig organised by the Great Northern Aid Trust has been held at the M.E.N. Arena and organisers are planning more events for later in this year and early next year.

Ex-Smiths' bassist Andy Rourke was inspired to set up the Versus Cancer gig after his manager's sister Nina Rehman was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2004. She lost her fight with the condition a year ago.

Rourke said of this March's gig: "It was an amazing night and we're overwhelmed that so many great artists gave up their time for free to make it happen.

"Of course this is just one more step for us. With a DVD due out soon and more events in the pipeline, we hope to raise even more money for cancer charities."

"A fantastic concert that entertained thousands of people is also helping people with cancer by raising vital funds for research. You can't get a better combination than that.

"This money will help develop our T-cell therapy research - a revolutionary new type of treatment which boosts a patient's own infection-fighting cells to naturally seek out and kill cancerous tumours."

Wendy Adams, of the Genesis Centre, said: "One in 10 women is currently expected to develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Our mission is to make one in 10 none in 10. The involvement of the Great Northern Aid Trust goes a long way in helping us to achieve this goal."

Nova Rehman, of Great Northern Aid Trust, said: "We aim to do three things: to help find a cure for cancer; to help patients currently suffering from the disease; and to raise awareness to reduce cancer death."

26 August 2007

Voting is well under way at the annual BT Digital Music Awards 2007, this year held in association with Packard Bell And Yahoo Music, will take place at London's Roundhouse on October 2, 2007.

The ceremony will again be broadcast on Channel 4 in early October – the natural home for the only awards designed to reward cutting-edge music entertainment delivered using the latest digital technology.

The People's Choice award is now open. It's your chance to nominate the best music fan sites on the web in the past year.

You can support stopcryingyourheartout.com and cast your vote for the site by clicking Here or on the BT Music Awards banners around the site.

You're stuck behind a three-wheeled old banger, stuttering and stalling at the traffic lights... Thinking of giving the driver a piece of your mind?

Well, think again, because behind the wheel could be Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton, a barrel of bulging muscles with fists like sledgehammers, who's on the way to becoming the greatest boxer Britain has ever produced.

The next punch Ricky throws with a vengeance will be aimed at the American Floyd Mayweather. Their bout, under the chandeliers of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in December, has just been announced.

The welterweight match will earn Ricky £5million. To add to the £2.5million he collected after flooring Jose Luis Castillo in four rounds in June.

He has gone 43 fights unbeaten (46 if you count the playground scuffles) and, at 28, is already worth £12million.

And yet we're sitting in a semi-detached home, in a back street in Hyde, Manchester. Ricky says this is his dream home, the sort of palace he thought he'd never be able to afford in the days when he was a trainee carpet fitter.

It must have set him back the best part of £200,000. Parked outside is that three-wheeler, Ricky's pride and joy, never mind the top-of-the-range BMW next to it.

It's one of the original Reliant vans from Only Fools And Horses. He bought it for £20,000 from a collector and his hobby is to drive it around Hyde, wearing a sheepskin coat and flat cap, Del Boy-style.

Looking around at the snapshots in Ricky's home and they're a celebrity gallery... Ricky with Tom Jones, Ricky with the Gallagher brothers ("My heroes. I play Oasis in the dressing room before a fight"), Ricky with Sly Stallone. "This is my favourite spot in the whole house," he says, leaning back on the chocolate-leather sofa in the corner, surveying his collection.

24 August 2007

Thanks for your email. In terms of the DVD we are completing the edit at the moment and we are aiming for a release late this year / early next year. I am unable to confirm the track listing, but obviously we are trying to include as much of Noels set as is possible. I’ll keep you posted on developments.

EMI Marketing / Universal Music TV are proud to release a 3 disc anniversary edition CD to celebrate The Cavern’s 50th anniversary this year. Containing 50 tracks from artists who have all appeared at the club over the years, the tracklist reads like a Who’s Who of British popular music over the decades, and amply highlights the pivotal importance and influence the club has extended over the years since it opened on 16th January 1957.

The album is released on 20th August, ahead of the internationally acclaimed Mathew Street Festival, which runs over the Bank Holiday weekend every year and is typically visited by in excess of three hundred thousand people.

Versus Cancer has raised a quarter of a million pounds to benefit cancer charities across the North of England.

Following the massively successful concert at Manchester's MEN Arena on Friday March 30th this year, which saw unique performances from Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Ian Brown, The Charlatans and many more, The Great Northern Aid Trust, organisers of the Versus Cancer concerts, has announced its first money raise for 2007.

“It was an amazing night and we’re overwhelmed that so many great artists gave up their time for free to make it happen,” said Great Northern Aid Trust founder Andy Rourke. “Of course this is just one more step for us, with a DVD due out soon and more events in the pipeline, we hope to raise even more money for cancer charities.”

The biggest beneficiary from the concert will again be the Christie Hospital, a specialist cancer hospital in Manchester, who have received £100,000 for innovative cancer research.

To mark the death of Tony Wilson, South nightclub is reviving The Haçienda's legendary Temperance night this Friday.

Even the drinks will be at 1986 prices from 10-11pm. The Temperance Club was created by the Hacienda's Paul Cons, now proprietor of South, 21 years ago. The mix of rock, hip hop, indie and house was a key feature of the Madchester era.

22 August 2007

This Saturday night the resident DJs at Red Rooms will be joined Oasis Tour DJ Paul Smith who is also resident at two of London's most famous Bars, The MET Bar and KOKO.

Part of the 1980's Manchester scene, Phil Smith originally worked as stage crew at the legendary Hacienda Club and both the International One and International Two music venues.

From there, Phil worked as road crew for The Stone Roses ('88-'90 &'95), OASIS ('93-'95) and The SeaHorses ('96-'97) before becoming the ON TOUR DJ for OASIS on the Be Here Now Tour ('97-'98), and all subsequent OASIS world tours.

Since then, Phil has DJ'ed clubs in the UK and Ireland. Many of these gigs were DJ'ed with Mani (Stone Roses/Primal Scream), and Guigsy (ex Oasis member), playing cities such as Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, Buenos Aires and Santiago. He is a Resident DJ at the MET Bar London, KOKO, and Bangers and Mash Club in Stockholm He also DJ'ed the recent London shows for Australian rockers Jet.

This weekend Red Rooms will also be continuing the very successful Happy Hour it launched last weekend. So to take advantage of this make sure and be at Red Rooms this Saturday night, the Happy Hour will be running from 9.30pm – 11.30pm. Have a Good weekend!!

KT Tunstall will be battling it out against Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Kate Nash at this year's Vodafone Live Music Awards.

St Andrews-born KT is going head to head with the other feisty gals for the new title of Best Live Female.

The glitzy bash is in its second year and both music industry aficionados and fans will have the chance to enjoy the London event next month.

Fellow Scots Primal Scream have also been nominated for the Best Live Music DVD for the Riot City Blues tour. They're up against Maximo Park, Oasis and Take That.

The Best Live Act this year will be fought out by Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian and last year's winner's Muse, while James Morrison, Mark Ronson, Mika and Jamie T are nominated for Best Male. Announced by presenter Alex Zane moments before an exclusive Vodafone TBA performance by Kanye West, the Vodafone Live Music Awards nominations have been put together by a panel of music industry insiders, including representatives from Music Week and the major record labels.

Voting for the winners is now open to the public at www.vodafone.co.uk/music and by texting BAND and your choice to 61500.

"The Importance of Being Idle" is a song on the British rock band Oasis' sixth album, Don't Believe the Truth, written and sung by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, on August 22, 2005, where it debuted at #1 (see 2005 in music). It was also the first time that Oasis earned two successive #1's in the same calendar year. It was written by Gallagher sometime during the summer of 2004, before the band made their final attempt at recording what would become Don't Believe the Truth. He got the title from the Mark Twain book of the same name which he found whilst cleaning out his garage (it belonged not to him but to girlfriend Sara McDonald.)

Musically, as Noel has commented, the song sounds like tunes from two British bands, The Kinks and The La's. In particular, the sentiment expressed is noticeably similar to The Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" and "Dead End Street", and the use of falsetto for every other verse line recalls The La's "Feelin'". The guitar sound is similar also to The La's b-sides; "Clean Prophet" and "Over". It also is a breakaway from the sound of Oasis's latter albums, especially the straight ahead rock 'n' roll anthems of Heathen Chemistry. The keyboard used on the pre-chorus sections was bought by bassist Andy Bell from the auction website eBay.

Noel has said that the lyrics of "The Importance of Being Idle" are inspired by his own laziness. Some of the second verse, with the reference to begging his doctor for "one more line", seems to be referring to an actual event as this resembles Noel's account of how he gave up cocaine in 1998.

Most reviewers acclaimed the track as one of the highlights of Don't Believe the Truth, which itself was widely praised as a marked return to form. The band mentioned in interviews in June that it would become the second single, after the UK Number One "Lyla". The b-sides are Liam Gallagher's "Pass Me Down the Wine" and Gem Archer's "The Quiet Ones."

The promo film was directed by Dawn Shadforth, (whose previous videos include Kylie Minogue's award-winning "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"). Shadforth's film for "The Importance of Being Idle' starred Welsh actor Rhys Ifans and homages the style of early 1960s kitchen sink drama British films, and is set during the build up to a funeral procession in a northern town, with the extravagant undertakers parading the coffin at the video's climax and Ifans playing the part of a high-kicking funeral director. The video is based on the film and play Billy Liar with Ifans playing the role of Billy. Noel and Liam therefore play Shadrack & Duxbury, the owners of the funeral parlour where Billy works. The rest band (Gem,Andy and Zak) make a brief appearance as lazy workers playing cards in an undertaker's office. It was widely acclaimed at the time as being probably the best video Oasis had ever made, not least by the band themselves, who were said to be very happy with the finished product. The video is very similar in style and concept to the music video for "Dead End Street" by The Kinks.

Q Magazine readers placed the song at #1 in a list of 2005's greatest tracks.

The video for the song was voted the video of the year at the NME Awards.

A decade ago today, Oasis released their bombastic third album, later regarded as one of rock's all-time folies de grandeur. So what does it sound like now?

Now this is what I call an anniversary. Never mind Diana, or the first Blair victory, or the decade that will soon have passed since the release of Kula Shaker's epochal K - today is the tenth birthday of Oasis' Be Here Now, and anyone who has not yet taken their copy to Record and Tape Exchange should surely give it at least one celebratory play. You'll laugh; you'll cry; best of all, you will surely be transported back to the strange days of 1997, when Oasis's imperial phase began to draw to a close, and the moment of giddy innocence that was Britpop died with them.

At ten years' remove, you can only marvel at what on earth they thought they were doing. Did Noel Gallagher really listen to a playback of the impossibly over-wrought, soupy, completely meaningless Magic Pie and sign it off? Did no-one listen to the absurdly Bon Jovi-esque intro to Fade In/Out and advise even a slight re-think? As the last five minutes of All Around the World found trumpets colliding with strings, the guitar overdubs piling into infinity and the whole conceit threatening to collapse in on itself, why didn't anybody pause for thought? Most bafflingly of all, isn't "All my people, right here, right now/D'you know what I mean/Yeah yeah/Yeah yeah" among the most woeful choruses ever put to tape?

What's most baffling of all, perhaps, is that precious few of the critical fraternity caught the whiff of spectacular failure (and though I didn't actually review it, by way of a mea culpa, I include myself in that). The Guardian's review claimed that Be Here Now "validates most if not all of the Gallaghers' boasts about their greatness." The Daily Telegraph told its readers that Be Here Now was simply "a great rock record." Q and awarded BHN the full complement of five stars and compared it to The Beatles' Revolver. NME reckoned it was worth eight of ten; in Mojo, Charles Shaar Murray was so enraptured that he lapsed into patois: "This is Oasis's world domination album. Dem a come fe mess up de area seeeeeeerious."

What was going on? There was, undoubtedly, a massed desire to somehow prolong the fun that Oasis had commenced in 1994. In several reviews, you could make out an obvious subtext bound up with the fact that many people had (rightly) thought that (What's The Story) Morning Glory? was not nearly as good as Definitely Maybe, but been wrong-footed by its sky-high sales figures. Perhaps most importantly, 1997 was the last stand of the absurdly positive, romanticized, starry-eyed mindset that Britpop fostered. Be Here Now, let us not forget, was not the only dud to be so hysterically lionized; two years before, very similar gasps of appreciation had greeted Blur's The Great Escape.

As I recall, it took until the end of that year for the penny to drop, when a run of indulgent, arrogant arena shows exposed Oasis's washed-out state, and Liam Gallagher served notice of the strange place at which they'd arrived by dedicating Live Forever to Princess Diana. Not long after, when his elder brother had quit the drugs and moved out of London, there came his own spurt of self-criticism: "It was an album mixed on cocaine. That's why it sounds like it does. Loads and loads of trebly guitars...I wasn't prepared to make things any better. I'd get to a certain point and go, 'Fuck it, that'll do.' We made the record to justify the drug habit."

So, there you have it: the empty sound of being off your head and convinced of your own brilliance at the start of the Blair era and the endtimes of what was known at the time as - oh, please - Cool Britannia. These days, Be Here Now actually sounds grimly fascinating: a crystallization of its time whose absence of restraint (try, for example, timing the length of the intros) is really quite something. For those of us who are occasionally partial to the musical equivalent of visiting graveyards, might it be time for the obligatory 'Collectors' Edition' and DVD?

Be Here Now is the third studio album by the English rock band Oasis. Released on August 21 1997, the album was highly anticipated by both music critics and fans as a result of the band's previous worldwide successes with their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, and its 1995 follow up (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. The album's pre-release build up led to considerable hype within both the music and mainstream press. At that point, Oasis were at the height of their fame, and Be Here Now became the UK's fastest selling album to date, selling over 420,000 units on the first day of release alone, and over one million within two weeks. As of 2007, the album has sold eight million copies worldwide.

Oasis' management company Ignition were aware of the danger of overexposure, and before its release they sought to control the media's access to the album. Ignition's campaign included limiting pre-release radio airplay, and requesting that journalists sign gag agreements. These tactics resulted in the alienation of members of both the music and mainstream media, as well as many industry members connected with the band. Ignition's attempts to limit pre-release access to the album only served to fuel large scale speculation and publicity within the British music scene.

Artistically Be Here Now failed to live up to the expectations that preceded its release. Although initial reviews were positive, retrospectively the album is viewed by much of the music press and by most members of the band as over-indulgent and bloated. In 2007, Q magazine described Be Here Now as "a disastrous, overblown folly—the moment when Oasis, their judgement clouded by drugs and blanket adulation, ran aground on their own sky-high self-belief." The album's producer Owen Morris said of the recording sessions: "The only reason anyone was there was the money. Noel had decided Liam was a shit singer. Liam had decided he hated Noel's songs [...] Massive amounts of drugs. Big fights. Bad vibes. Shit recordings." None of its songs were included on the band's 2006 "best of" compilation album Stop the Clocks.

Album cover

The cover image to Be Here Now was shot at the Stock Hotel in Hertfordshire in April 1997. It features the band standing outside the hotel surrounded by assorted props. At the centre of the image is a Rolls Royce floating in a swimming pool. The photographer Michael Spencer Johns said the original concept involved shooting each band member in various locations around the world, but when the cost proved prohibitive, the shoot was relocated to the Stock Hotel. Spencer remarked that the shoot "degenerated into chaos", adding that "by 8pm, everyone was in the bar, there were schoolkids all over the set, and the lighting crew couldn't start the generator.

It was Alice in Wonderland meets Apocalypse Now." Despite various meanings people have tried to read into the selection of the cover props, Johns said Gallagher simply selected items from the BBC props store he thought would look good in the picture. Two of the props that had considered thought in their inclusion were the inflatable globe (intended as a homage to the sleeve of Definitely Maybe) and the Rolls Royce, which was suggested by Arthurs. The release date in each region was commemorated on the calendar pictured on the sleeve; Harris said the dating "[encouraged] fans to believe that to buy a copy on the day it appeared was to participate in some kind of historical event."

Stars of TV and music turned out in force as the city said a rock’n’roll goodbye to Mr Manchester Tony Wilson at his funeral today.

Tony, who put Manchester on the world map with the famous Hacienda club and Factory Records – which spawned bands like Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays – was buried at Southern Cemetery after an emotional service at the Hidden Gem Church in the city centre.

The guest list at his funeral service read like a who’s who of Manchester celebrities with former TV colleagues like Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, Bob Greaves and Lucy Meacock from Granada, rubbing shoulders with music business faces like New Order’s Peter Hook, Andy Rourke from The Smiths, Rowetta and Shaun Ryder from Happy Mondays, Clint Boon from Inspiral Carpets and other famous faces like journalist and singer John Robb, TV and radio presenter Terry Christian, former business partner Alan Erasmus and acclaimed ‘Factory’ designer Peter Saville.

Fame

Yet despite the fame of the mourners the service was a very normal Catholic requiem mass lasting just over an hour with readings by a few old friends and former colleagues.

Tributes came in the form of flowers from the great and good of Manchester and beyond. Wreaths included a huge message made out of hundreds of white daisies which simply red “From Liverpool With Love.”

There were also floral tributes from Sir Alex Ferguson and the players and staff at Manchester United, music bible the NME, Alan McGee – the man who first discovered Manchester band Oasis and Coronation Street and Shameless actor Chris Bisson.

One time Granada colleague Richard Madeley paid tribute to the man they called Mr Manchester after the service.

He said: “The service was one of the most emotional I have ever seen. Tony always had absolute self belief. He was so confident but he was also a very good, thoroughly decent man. “He celebrated others people success almost more than de did his own and he will be greatly missed by his friends and this city.”

The service was conducted by Catholic priest, Canon Denis Clinch, at Tony’s favourite church, the Hidden Gem, off John Dalton Street in the city centre.

Both Tony’s children Isabel and Oliver were baptised there and Tony used to pop into the church regularly to have theological discussions with Canon Clinch. After the service, watched by a large crowd of members of the public, friends and family travelled across town to Southern Cemetery, where Tony was buried and then onto One Central Street bar for his wake.

Alan McGee"He was a complete inspiration. He was one of the great spotters of music talent. Factory Records was the template for every indie label."

Ian Brown"Few have done so much for the city of Manchester and independent music. Thanks to Tony Wilson for all the help he gave to the music makers of Manchester."

Shaun Ryder"I was f**king gutted when I heard the news. I loved Tony. RIP mate."

Tim Burgess, The Charlatans"I feel like when Joe Strummer died. it's like losing a musical dad."

Peter Hook, New Order"It's a very, sad day. It's like my father dying all over again. I'm devastated. My heart is broken. Say hello to Rob, Ian and Martin for me please Tony."

Stephen Morris, New Order"We definitely wouldn't have become what we did without him. So many other things wouldn't have become what they are. Manchester wouldn't have become what it is without him. Apparently the Town Hall's had it's flag at half-mast - that says something about what he meant."

Source: NME Magazine

The service will take place at the Hidden Gem Church , Manchester Today at 2pm, and will be open to family and close friends via invitation only.

19 August 2007

Click here to listen again to last nights Russell Brand show on BBC Radio 2.

Russell who was drugged up to the eyeballs on herbal Viagra for the show was joined in the studio by Roger Lloyd-Pack (Trigger from Only Fools And Horses). Guests who joined Russell on the phone were Elvis Presley, Noel Gallagher and the son of the creator of the Smurfs.

Noel who was at David Walliams birthday party, in his former London home Supernova Heights. Russell tried and failed to get Noel to do some roving reporting to speak to guests that included Barbra Windsor, Matt Lucas, Richard and Judy, Dale Wilton and Dr Who actor David Tennant.

Noel had a few words to say about Russell's blog in the Guardian, and much more.

Elvis Presley who also later joined Russell by phone, was asked what he thought of Noel Gallagher...

18 August 2007

A walk on the hallowed Boleyn turf was the only bright spot as Sven's loved-up recruits thumped the Hammers.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City commanded play at Upton Park last week with such assurance and grace that far from seeming a hastily assembled squad of mercenaries from around this dirty little circle we call "world", they appeared to be afloat in a transcendental love affair with each other and the randy boffin who compiled them.

For me the opening day of the season was an oscillating mind waltz of conflicting emotions. The Irons were pretty shoddy, disorganised in midfield, lacking in imagination up front and a nerve-jangling ballet of tipsy confusion is what passed for a defence. Only Robert Green in goal and Mark Noble looked comfortable.

The ignominy was exacerbated by the prior knowledge of an after-match meeting with Noel Gallagher in Christian Dailly's box. Most people are aware that the Gallagher brothers are arrogant as a default setting, a feat they performed whilst supporting an unreliable and often risible football team. Well let me tell you that all the swagger and bluster we endured as discs went platinum and Brits were won were as nought compared to the gloating, showboating, puffed-up rhubarb I had to silently tolerate in a senior player's box after Saturday's misdemeanour.

I'd rather hoped that it would be me bragging and strutting, perhaps whilst chuffing on a cigar, consoling a tearful Noel that the season is yet young and that he'd made some jolly good records. Instead me, my Dad, my mate Jack and Robin the hippy black cab driver (there's an anomaly - if you leap into his carriage unawares it's like a magical mystery tour as he recites poems and demands a more lax immigration policy) moped about, overjoyed to be amongst adored West Ham players (James Collins was also there like a big, twinkly beefcake) but irked by the unanticipated defeat.